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Did not get very far this weekend. Hit some snags when we un crated the frame and found some parts missing. Great customer service got a call back on Sunday from the owner and a fedex tracking number.

Also had a few problems with installing and getting the electronics package working. I though that I was computer tech savvy but this is kicking my butt, I'm sure its something simple. Nothing that a beer and a steak and some sleep cant fix.

Here are some pics for this weekend.

I also put up a quick video showing our old machine that were replacing

I did a bunch of work getting the water pan set. Precision Plasma the manufacture of the table provided plans for fabricating the water table. I modified the plans a little.

I went with 1/8 plate formed into a pan using their dimensions to fit the table. Their plans included an integrated slat holder that was plasma cut in to the plate then a 120 degree bend used to form a lip. No one in my area could plasma cut a sheet over 4 x 8 nor could they bend a 120 bend on top of the 180 bend. So I opted to use their alternate design.

I used 1.5 x 1.5 angle welded along the edge with 3/16 gaps.

They specified 3.5 in 1/8 flat stock for the supports. 3.5 inch flat stock is crazy expensive at almost $40 a stick and i needed 10 for the table. I opted for 2.5 in which was a quarter of the price.

To make this work I added a 1/2 support to raise the slats up off the floor of the pan and help with fluid flow. I also opted to have the slats sit 1/2 below the rim of the pan.

I will fill the table 2.5 inches deep and have 1/2 gap between the fluid and the part being cut. I think this will workout ok but its the first time I have done this so we will see.

Their design did not call for a center support rib but I added one and it made a big difference.

The slats slip in nice and easy but lock in once in place and I do not get any movement.

Yes the steel in the drawing is brand new, my steel supplier delivered some very rusty stock and they did not have enough. I hate cleaning brand new things!

It has been way too hot and humid to work lately. So much for a dry heat here in Arizona.

I got the plasma table built / set up. One of the very nice things about getting a kit form table like we did is how easy it is to set up. The table is the iplasma series from Precision Plasma.

It was very easy to set up and with 2-3 three people could be completed in under 2 hours. Taking pictures and documenting the process slowed us down a bit. That is really nice to be able to have a 4 x 8 table up and ready in that amount of time with only simple hand tools.

The entire frame came powder coated blue. The bends were all uniform and no tool marks showed through the powder coat. The welds on the trolleys and the gantry's were all tig'ed.

The water pan Should drop right in I hope!.

If I was not doing the water pan I could throw some slats in the pre cut holders and hook up the electronics and be cutting.

I have a few more things to build though before I'm cutting. Here are some of the pics. I could not fit all of them here so the rest are on the build site:Desert Fabworks CNC Plasma Build

Got a little more done. I got the stepper motors installed and the torch ran through the cable carriers and switched over to the mini machine torch and got rid of the large gear rack collar.

I fabricated up a cart / rack to hold the 55 gallon drums that will be my sump system for the table liquid. Still having a lot of different thought about how that's going to work. I really want to pressurize the barrels to move the fluid up the table and let it drain back but a little worried that the cap is going to pop off and I will loose it all on the floor. It should only take about 5 psi to move the fluid up but we will see.

At least the rack for the barrels is solid and fits perfect between and under the rails so that I can move it out for service and changes in the future. I have a small shop and have almost everything on wheels.

I'm going to start working on a cart that will hold the plasma cutter, computer, and electronics controller unit.

If any one has tried a sump system like this before I would love to hear your thoughts.

For the Water pan: 5 x 10 sheet of 1/8 mild steel formed into to a pan per specs corners welded and delivered to my door it was $250.00 Not sure if that was a good deal but the place that ended up doing it for me was the only one that I could find to do it.

With the help of 5 friends I got the water table lifted into place in the plasma table base. It fit! Very excited about that.

I plan on welding in the drain bungs and plumbing my sump system this week finally.

I made a little progress on the rolling cart that will hold my computer, plasma cutter and my Dragon Cut electronics box and an UPS system. I have to fab up the slide out drawer that will hold the keyboard and mouse and install the gas strut shocks that will raise the lid that will hold the monitor.

I looked at a bunch of other peoples photos of how they set up their electronics and almost settled on using a pre-built rolling tool cart but decided to go fully custom so that this unit would slide under the table when not in use and hold everything in one place.

The idea is to store this under the table and when I go to use it, slide it out from under the table. The lid with the monitor will fold up into a vertical position with the help of some gas struts and it will have a slide out drawer / tray for the keyboard and mouse.

Pull up a rolling stool and I will be all set. I'm big on keeping my wires and cables under control. I hope to make this setup as clean as possible. As soon as I can get everything set and tested I will send it all out to powder coat.

Its been tough getting work done on this project lately. 72+ hours a week at the day job does not leave much fabrication time lately.

I did make some progress on my computer cart. I both hate and enjoy the custom fabrication and all the bolt it on try it take it apart and repeat a thousand times.

I got the gas struts installed for the flip up monitor panel. It works great! I have changed struts many times which is easy but figuring out the mounting points and the the load vs the leverage and finding a strut that is not designed for what you want to do and making it work took a bit.

I was going to enclose the cart more and put panels on the sides but I figure that since the norm temp in the shop is about 110 I had better leave is open for some ventilation.

I need to mount the Dragon cut box so that it sits up off the floor and figure out how I want to mount the emergency stop button and it should be ready for powder coat.

I have been dreading the plumbing set up for the tanks and the water pan so I have not done anything with that in a bit. Maybe I will work on that next.

Lookin good so far RW. When I first seen the size of the lid on your cart, I thought you were going to have a 46" big screen in there for a monitor..lol.

One suggestion, if you are looking for mounting ideas for the bladerunner, you could put a skin on one side of the cart and flush mount it. That would free up a little more breathing room for the computer and the plasma cutter. You could also fully enclose the cart and put a filter housing and filter on the opposite side to the bladerunner and an exhaust fan on the back panel.